Surface modification of SiO2 micro spheres by NiFe2O4 nanoparticles

NiFe2O4 nanocrystals are important magnetic materials because of their numerous applications in various fields like recording media, ferrofluids, magneto optics, spintronics, microwave devices, etc. Recently, ferrites are also used as gas and humidity sensor materials as well as anode materials for lithium ion batteries. Nanostructured electrode materials have high structural stability, minimize the diffusion length for lithium ion and have better performance because of large surface area over the bulk materials. The nanostructured materials have a strong tendency to agglomerate again because of their large surface area reaction and form bigger particles during calcination, which make it difficult to use these materials for the above mentioned applications. The dispersion of nanoparticles in/over the silica matrix is an excellent way to reduce the particles agglomeration and stabilize the nanocrystallinty at various temperatures for different applications. The present work is focused on the preparation of SiO2 particles using sol-gel process and surface modification of SiO2 particles using NiFe2O4 nanocrystals.